Brain activity recorded in patient whose heart stopped beating

Canadian researchers observed that after a terminal patient was taken off life support, his brain continued to give off delta wave bursts (brain waves) for more than 10 minutes. The doctors said that there is no biological explanation for the postmortem brain activity.

Illustration Photo Credit: Reuters/Channel 2 News

The doctors at a Canadian intensive care unit were certain that four terminal patients would pass away after they turn off their life support machines. However, a very unusual discovery was made when the brain of one of the patients continued to work for more than 10 minutes after his heart stopped beating, which raised questions about a person’s feelings after death.

According to the doctors who participated in the experiment, the man’s brain was giving off delta wave bursts, which are usually detected when a person is in a deep sleep. The doctors added that this trial suggests that each person experiences death differently.

However, the doctors have reservations about drawing conclusions from this single experiment. The doctors added that because there is no biological explanation for the brain activity after the heart stopped working, the monitor could have malfunctioned. However, the monitor did not show any indications of a malfunction when tested again.